The last thing I remember was the silence of the town. Not the common silence of a small town in the middle of night, but more of an eerie silence that would make a passing traveler avoid the main path to this town.  

However, that silence is what drew me to this town, the distance the townspeople kept from travelers was ideal for my situation. If someone were to look for me, this town and its secrets could be easily hidden in the shadows. Months ago, when I first walked the path to this town, there was that noticeable silence among the streets even in the bright of the day. The town consisted of a post office that never seemed to be open, a store for the locals, and a hotel where I spent most of my time hiding from since I arrived, all on the main path through the town, with homes surrounding it. The only way I could tell if anyone lived there was the lights through those home windows lighting most of the path during the night.  

I can still recall the day I walked through the doors of the hotel lobby, simply empty as most of the town was, the only person there was the front desk operator whose eyes had watched me from the moment I opened those doors.  

As I walked closer, I can hear the man behind the counter sighed. “Hello, miss...” the deep voice that came from his month fit the look of this man very well, “how can I help you today.” The way he spoke made it seem like it wasn’t a question but more of a statement.  

“I’m looking for a room I can stay in for 2 months, maybe more, if possible...I have the money.” I shift my body closer to the counter. I could see that he wasn’t expecting me to spend as many days as I intended to spend. Before leaving home, I would have assumed the same about myself.  

“that’s quite a long stay...” the man paused for a moment, “I have only one room available, but you can use it...” I looked around at the empty lobby, one room huh? I thought.  

“Alright...thank you.”  

He hands me the key for the room and point in the direction of a hallway nearby, “your room is at the end...don’t make too much noise, the other guests are not too fond of noises...” he spoke as he continued to go back to the work he was doing before I disturbed his day. 

Looking at the room provided for me, there was not much. The room lights were dim enough to see the shapes of what little furniture was placed in this room. I remembered sitting on that bed for the first time and remarking at the stiffness of the mattress. All I could think about was that familiar feeling of my bed back home, which brought tears into my eyes that I haven’t been able to express for a long time.  

I lived in a big family with not much to offer the world, the look of my parents each morning brought me to hate that life. Knowing that they easily gave out each sibling before me to whomever would take that burden from them. I could not stand there and watch the fate that followed my siblings happen to me. However, there was something warm about that home that wasn’t there in this hotel room.  

One afternoon as the sun was setting, I can remember walking down the main street of this small town with houses on either side of my path. Windows blinds shutting and lights quickly turning off as I walk path, as if the townspeople think I would approach their doors for help. I could not explain why these people did not seem to want me near, but that does not stop me from living here longer than they would like. This afternoon was one of the few times I left my hotel room, simply to breathe some clear air. I listened to the sound of the wind blowing around me and the distant sound of the train passing by. When suddenly all the sounds around me stopped, the streetlights of the town turned on, making me stop for a moment.  

Those lights began to flicker as I watched the stars above appear and disappear with the lights. At one moment, my body felt that eerie feeling of someone watching nearby, just like when I came to this town. My heart stopped as I heard from behind me the sound of slow footsteps, and I quickly turned around to check if it was one of the townspeople taking a walk-through twilight like me. However, when I turned all, all I saw was the path I had just walked glowing from the streetlamps. I felt a sigh of relief for only a moment, I am just fearful of someone I know finding me and taking me back to what I refuse to be, I remember thinking. I continued walking a bit quicker to get back to the safety of my hotel room.  

As I walked, I heard those footsteps again but this time it was not behind me but to the left of me down a lightly dimmed alley. I stopped in my tracks again, I was not traditionally a fearful person, and it could be because of the unnatural feeling of this town, but I began to feel my heartbeat pounding in my chest to warn me. When I turned to look down the alley, the footsteps once again stopped and what followed was the sound of whistling. It was a cheery kind of whistling, but there was no person that I could see that would be making that sound. The houses around me were already settled down for the night, and there appeared to be no one else around me.  

Then it happened, only for a moment I saw it, I am sure of it. The lights down the alley flickered as did the streetlamps, and for a moment I could see a figure standing there. The lights turned off and slowly turned back on as the train passing by sounded its whistle and in the alley the figure was gone. I did not spend much time in the position I was in and walked quickly to the safety of the empty hotel.  

Once I finally was able to check my breath, I found myself in the empty hotel lobby. Trying to focus on the sound of the radio playing behind the counter, talking of the great war happening across the sea. If the news of bombing on another Europe town wasn’t enough to cause my heart to panic again. I hear the door of the back room behind the counter open and the front desk attendant walk out, which makes my body jump. 

 “You alright miss?” He spoke with little concern for me being and simply asking because of habit.  

 “I-I'm okay...” I said as I try to check up with my breathing once again, “was taking a walking and I saw something...or someone.” 

“mhm...” the man behind the desk begun to take out papers from a draw nearby, not taking his eyes off to continue the conversation, “The shadows can be misleading.” 

“What do you mean by that?” I ask, walking closer to the counter. 

All the man does is give me a passing glance and continues working on whatever kept him busy during the nights. I thought for a moment if pressing more would be favorable to these strange formalities that I felt towards the only person who had spoken to me in the last few months. However, another part of myself wanted to ignore that shadowy encounter and consider it being my fear of being followed. 

Once I entered that dark room that I had grown to find comfort in after these few weeks, I went to fully comprehend what had really happened. No matter how much I thought about it, my head would spin slightly. Suddenly, I noticed a small leather journal on the bedside table that wasn’t there before I left. Given the night I had already, I simply wanted to just ignore the sudden object in my room. Maybe it was left by the man in the lobby or from something else. However, there was something calling me to open it. Something uncontrollable, I quickly grabbed the journal to see the pages blank expect of the very last one. It simply said, “following the darkness takes time...”.  

I stared blankly at those words, not knowing what to make of it. I take the journal and place it into my jacket pocket and rest my eyes to clear my mind.  

Several nights continue to pass as if that interaction never existed, however, as I walk through the morning light of this strange town, I still felt that eerie sensation continues to follow and watch me through the town.  

Then the night came when I made up my mind, I needed to leave this town. It was definitely not a place I seemed to be welcomed at, and the feeling was starting to follow me in my dreams. As I continued dreaming of that night. As the nights after that went on, the dreams became increasingly vivid as the figure looked to be trying to speak to me each night.  

That night I packed up what little I took with me when I left my life before and gave the key back to the man at the front desk. He did not say anything to me, but I could tell he was happy to see a stranger leave this place.  

The path I took was different from that night, as I could not find myself going that way again. The sun was setting much earlier this time of year, so I found myself walking through those familiar streetlamps.  

As I walked through this strange town one last time, the feeling appeared again. That feeling that has kept me trapped in my dreams. I began to pick up my feet to reach the end of the town as quickly as possible. Disappearing into the night like I had down months ago.  

Then that whistling began again much like that night before, and I stopped in my tracks. Closing my eyes and taking deep breaths to keep my wits together, I turned to where the whistling was coming from.  

The streetlamps began that flickering pattern again, as the whistling grew louder and closer to me. I tried to move, but my body was refusing to take any action at that moment.  

In that moment as the lights flickered faster and the silence of the town grew with the whistling, I could see the shadow figure standing before me. Instead of disappearing before me, it stood there watching me, waiting for me to react.  

 “Running away again...” the shadow figure spoke, “what good will that do?” it tilted its head at me. This broke the trance it had on me, and I fell to my knees. 

“I-I... you’re not real.” I shook my head. 

“Oh, to many I am not...but you somehow see me, which makes me think you are meant to help me...”  

“Help you...” I look up at the figure standing above me.  

“I have travel through time...making changes that I see fit. Not once has someone noticed me, yet you see me and hear me” the figure disappears from in front of me and appears next to me to help me up. “I changed fate so you would end up here and I changed the world to fit what I need.” 

“You ran away from the home and life you had before this...what a sad fate to be running away for the rest of your life.” The figure disappeared again and appeared in front of me. “All I am suggesting is you follow me...perhaps you can change things as well” the figure turned and began to walk deeper into the shadow in front of me.  

I stood there as the figure walked where I could not see it, and the same whistling from the night began again. It felt as if it were a siren call to me, to see if I could follow it. I had nothing left of this life, the figure was right, running away would do me no good. I needed more to live; I needed motivation. Following this figure might not have been the best choice but at that moment it was the only choice. 

As I slowly walked closer to the voice, I could feel the wind push me farther away from the life I knew. Once the shadows have grown closer, finally giving me that warm welcome this town had neglected for months. The last thing I remember was the silence of the town.